472-CPS-2

Natural Resources Conservation Service

CONSERVATION PRACTICE STANDARD

Access Control

Code 472

(ac)

DEFINITION

The temporary or permanent exclusion of animals, people, vehicles, and equipment from an area.

Purpose

Achieve and maintain desired resource conditions by monitoring and managing the intensity of use by animals, people, vehicles, and equipment in coordination with the application schedule of practices, measures, and activities specified in the conservation plan.

Conditions Where Practice Applies

This practice applies on all land uses.

criteria

General Criteria Applicable to All Purposes

Use-regulating activities (e.g., posting of signs, patrolling, gates, fences and other barriers, permits) must achieve the intended purpose and include mitigating associated resource concerns to acceptable levels during their installation, operation, and maintenance. Activities will complement the application schedule and life-span of other practices specified in the conservation plan.

Each activity or measure will identify the entity to be monitored and regulated (animals, people, vehicles, and equipment) and specify the intent, intensity, amounts, and timing of exclusion by that entity. Activities may involve temporary to permanent exclusion of one to all entities.

Placement, location, dimensions, and materials (e.g., signs, gates), and frequency of use (e.g., continuous, specific season, or specific dates) must be described for each activity including monitoring frequency.

CONSIDERATIONS

Even though usage of the area is monitored and controlled, the land manager and/or tenant should be advised about emergency preparedness agencies and related information (e.g., the local fire/wildfire control agency and pumper truck water sources) on or near the area. Information should be designated initially and redesignated annually.

Plans and Specifications

Specifications for applying this practice must be prepared for each area and recorded using approved specification sheets, job sheets, and narrative statements in the conservation plan, or other acceptable documentation.

OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE

Monitoring of the effectiveness of use-regulating activities will be performed routinely and at least annually with changes made to specifications and operation and maintenance requirements as necessary.

Modifications to activities and use of measures are allowed temporarily to accommodate emergency-level contingencies such as wildfire, hurricane, drought, or flood if resource conditions are maintained

references

Gucinski, H., M.J. Furniss, R.R. Ziemer, M.H. Brookes. 2001. Forest roads: A Synthesis of Scientific Information. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNWGTR-509. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. Portland, OR.

U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. 2009. Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways - Part 5, Traffic Control Devices for Low-Volume Roads. Washington, DC. https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/2009r1r2/pdf_index.htm.

NRCS, NHCP

October 2017